Thanks for the advice everyone.

He does like his branch, and climbs up on it to lay under the heat lamp... He typically climbs up there after having a drink of water, and usually right after leaving his cave. Laying there right now, actually, like a lazy bum. lol. As far as my location, the tank is in my bedroom, where the ambient temperature is about 70-72 degrees.

No, the UTH is not on any sort of regulator. But I have a layer of reptile carpet on the glass over it, which is then covered by about an inch and a half of substrate. I've checked the area over it with the infra-red thermometer, and it's right around 82 degrees. Should I put a controller on it anyway, just to be safe? (Please don't think I'm disregarding your suggestions or "know better," but I can barely get the temp high enough as is it seems, without putting a regulator on it.) Also, how do I get away without using bulbs? With just the UTH, the temperature does not come up to where it needs to be. Are there better UTH's out there that I can be using? Because yes, the lamps really do make it hard for the humidity.

Awesome idea with the construction paper, btw! That'll save a few bucks. Thanks again for the replies, look forward to talking to you all more.